Which Is The More Diverse Party In Statewide Elections? Republicans

This surprising article not only comes from CNN, but from John Avlon, a devoted liberal. But as he says in the piece, numbers don’t lie:

This is why it might surprise you to hear that Republicans are by far the more diverse party when it comes to statewide elected officials such as senators and governors. On this front, they leave Democrats in the dust. And that’s why the GOP actually has a greater depth of diversity on their potential presidential bench looking to 2016 and beyond.

It’s counterintuitive but true. Numbers don’t lie. Let’s start with a look at the governors, the traditional launching pad of presidential ambitions.
Among the Republican ranks is Brian Sandoval, the Hispanic governor of Nevada. The 49-year-old former federal judge took on a corrupt conservative incumbent and is now racking up an impressive reform record in his first term. Likewise, there is New Mexico’s Gov. Susana Martinez, a former district attorney who remains popular in her state despite an otherwise Democratic tide.

Sen. Tim Scott was appointed last year, representing South Carolina.

Ted Cruz celebrates his victory in U.S. Senate race in Texas.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is considered a presidential contender for 2016.

Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, is thought to be a potential presidential contender.

Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina is of Indian-American descent.

Republican Brian Sandoval is the Hispanic governor of Nevada.

How many Hispanic governors do the Democrats have in office? Zero.

It may surprise Avlon, and anyone who watches the mainstream media, but if you are involved with the GOP and the Tea Party, this is no surprise at all. The narrative that the GOP is anti minority is a lie the Democrats and liberals have long pushed. With a media that willingly pushes that false narrative as well, it has become a notion that many Americans believe.

But it has never been true. Not even close. The Tea Party movement had, and has, dozens upon dozens minority speakers since it’s inception. When a Tea Party candidate like Ted Cruz or Tim Scott runs for office as a Republican, we rally behind and support them with all that we have. It’s curious how the media pushes the narrative of how the GOP/Tea Party is somehow racist, yet never asks the question, “How can a party be racist when it supports and elects minorities?”

Avalon points out that the GOP have two Indian American Governors, Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley. How many do the Democrats have? Zero. He also writes that the only black Senator in the Senate, Tim Scott, is Republican.

Make no mistake about it though, the GOP has a long way to go in attracting minority voters in outreach, and addressing their concerns, but the party has made huge strides in running and winning with a diverse group. I’m not sure what it will take for the Democrats to stop pushing the false “racist” narrative. It has worked well for them in the minority community, but sooner or later people will realize that many leaders in the GOP are as diverse as their own communities, and start to ask themselves if maybe the narrative about the GOP that the Democrats have pushed for so long, may not be true at all.

27 Responses

The GOP certainly has more minority figureheads, but the voters and the people are generally not fooled by tokens who go on to look the other way to discrimatory republican policies. The last presidential election pretty clearly highlighted that. The republican party has heavy roots in racsim that I don’t think anyone will quickly forget. Rick Perry anyone?

It is the Democrat party that is rooted in racism. It was the Democrat party who started the KKK. It was the Democrat party who fought FOR slavery. It was the Democrats who opposed civil rights. Wallace, Bull Conner, Al Gore Sr, they were all anti minority. It was the Republicans that freed the slaves. It was the Republicans that started historical black colleges. It was the Republicans that fought for civil rights. So spare me. Learn your history. Rick Perry doesn’t have a racist bone in his body. You, on the other hand, think you can call other black politicians that happen to disagree with you..”Token?” Look in the mirror sir, you are what you are accusing others of.

I second Tom on tokenism. Republican as the party of diversity is laughable if not just sad. A party focused on purity of ideals can and will never be diverse whether it’s ethnically or philosophically.

Why is Marco Rubio considered minority? When you look at him, he is white. Most Cubans are white. Just because they are spanish speaking immigrants doesn’t mean they are minorities. I live in Miami and minority status is only used by Cubans for convenience.

This commentary conveniently ignores Avalon’s observation that “The Republicans’ surprising diversity edge when it comes to statewide elected officials cannot erase the very real diversity deficit they face below this level. In the House of Representatives, often called ‘The People’s House,’ the disparity is stark.”

Avalon’s observation is also based on a very small sample size. There are only 50 states, and Avalon only looked at governors (of whom there are only 50) and senators (of whom there are only 100). He also ignored the fact that Republicans simply hold more governors’ seats than Democrats (30 Republican governors compared to 19 Democratic governors). There’s not a lot of statistical significance to an analysis that looks at the ethnic “diversity” of a group that only has 19 members. And neither Avalon nor Kathleen McKinley bother to examine statewide officeholders other than senators or governors, such as attorney generals, secretaries of state, etc.

The fact that Republicans have a few more non-white officeholders in governors’ mansions and the U.S. senate might be significant if we assume that these ethnic officeholders are likely presidential candidates in 2016. Senators and governors are historically the politicians most likely to run for and win presidential elections (more so than for example atty generals or secretaries of state). However, there is no particular reason to expect that the 2016 presidential candidate from either party is likely to be Hispanic or African-American or of Indian descent or that this ethnic background would improve their chances of winning the presidency. All of these ethnic groups are still under-represented in electoral office relative to their presence in the general population, so it is a mistake to assume that being Hispanic or Black confers an electoral advantage.

Finally, it is worth noting that the Republicans’ supposed Hispanic advantage actually comes from a narrow slice of the Hispanic community, namely Cuban-Americans. The Hispanic community is very diverse, and Cuban-Americans tend to be more conservative than Hispanics in general. It is not clear at all, therefore, that simply being “Hispanic” really means that Republicans are diverse in a way that makes them representative of the full Hospanic community.

But in the end, I don’t like dividing our country by any inborn characteristic that the person cannot control: gender, race/color of skin, physical stature, etc. Our country should be focused on individuals, and individual liberties.

In 2010, 88.8 percent of the Republican vote in the election for members of the house was white, 63.9 percent for Democrats. In this years election, white voters supported Romney with 59% of his vote, only 39% for Obama. Just some simple facts Ms. McKinley

There is no doubt the Democrats have won in distorting the GOP message to miniorities, and there is no doubt that the GOP does little to counter it, as I say in my piece. The establishment always felt if they just preached the right values, supported minority candidates, that would be enough. But ingrained lies are something necessary to fight, the GOP hasn’t been very good at it.

Republicans say anything to avoid the truth that their policies hurt monorities. Saying Democrats are lying to minorities about Republicans (like they cant think for themselves) but what they really imply is that minorities are not smart enough to realize the Republican party is the “real” party of diversity. Silly Black and Brown people. The most offensive part is when they use the “Democrats are the real racists” because of ties to the KKK last century. Anyone who knows US history knows that all changed in ’64 with the Civil Rights act, but they don’t expect minorities to know anything about that, shame. Just look at the “blue states” prior to ’64 and after, all the facts you need right there.

OUR policies have hurt minorities!!! Oh goodness. Look around my friend. For 40 yrs minorities have voted Democrat. It is the DEMOCRAT policies that find them in historic unemployment, broken homes without fathers, generational dependency on the government, and ridiculous incarceration rates. This is not about minorities being “smart” enough. Most of the people in these communities are just trying to survive. They only hear what “leaders” like Sharpton and Jackson say. They are sold a bill of goods. I didn’t say Democrats were racist, I said their party is rooted in racism, and that is simple history.

Sparkle, Sen.Rubio came up with some of this same nonsense while foolishly challenging Secy. Powell’s true, and correct commenst on the GOP. I suggest you go back to 11-06-2012 and look at the Romney HQers in Boston and the Obama HQers in Chicago. That tells the truth tale and says it all. Case closed. Peace

It is also important to note that it is the GOP that recently ran a woman as VP on the ticket. It has been a long, long time since the Democrats have done that.

Plenty of diversity in candidates. Unfortunately, that does not necessarily translate into diversity in thought or positions.

Republicans seem to have all this diversity, yet minorities and women tend not to vote for Republicans. You attribute a lot of the fault to the darn liberal media and the liberal media bias.

Is it possible that there are other factors in play? I think polling would indicate that Palin’s positions on issues was not aligned with the positions of a majority of women in the US. I think women generally are smart enough to understand positions on issues, without being brainwashed by the evil liberal media.

The Tea Party seemed to love Herman Cain. However, it seems that Herman Cain’s positions were not at aligned with the polling of African Americans. The Tea Party loves Herman Cain when his “plan” is drastic reductions in taxes along the lines of a $9.99 pizza sale. The Tea Party loves Herman Cain when he talks about the only real discrimination he sees is against Christian conservatives. It would seem that the vast majority of African Americans in the US see some other forms of discrimination. Is it that all these Black folks are simply influenced by the evil liberal media?

It may not be that the liberal media has brainwashed a population in the US that is too stupid to look at information. Could it be at all possible that minorities and women have examined the positions of both parties and overwhelmingly feel that the Democrats’ ideas and positions are more aligned with their own positions and ideas? Any possibility of that at all?

It seems that in your world, Republican voters are knowledgeable and understand the issues, thus they vote for the GOP. All these folks voting for the Democrats clearly must not be as knowledgeable or understand the issues as well, and only get their information from the evil liberal media.

So sure, plenty of diversity in the GOP, all saying the same things that the White males have said for years.

You might have some chance with Rubio challenging the status quo on immigration, but we’ll see how successful he is.

It also is interesting that you discuss only gubernatorial and senate candidates, when the House, the People’s House, is showing some very different trends.

With the new election, Democrat women and minorities will outnumber White male Democrats in the House. Given that women make up 51% of the population and minorities are more than 25% of the population, it certainly makes sense that a majority of House members would be something other than White and male.

Well, that makes sense everyone except in the GOP. On the Republican side, the vast, vast majority in congress is White and male, and that majority got even larger in the last election.

First of all, it’s important to note that Romney won women over 30 and married women. So, it’s not so much a woman propblem and as youth problem. The false birth control narrative the Dems used worked it’s magic with them though. I do not just blame the media. I clearly say that the GOP are really bad at reaching out or countering the lies. Again, with Palin, her ideals do align with the women who are mature and married. Black Americans are influenced by their life experience. They don’t see things going very well for them. They are told over and over that it’s this or that, but no one ever goes into their community with the truth, which is it is the failed Democrat policies that have them in despair. It’s not about being stupid. It’s about just trying to survive another day and people they respect telling them that if they just vote this one way, it will be best for them. I never implied that Republican voters are any more knowledgeable than Democrat voters. The problem we have in this country are the low information voters, who vote on emotion, and that is across the board. There is no reasonable person who can look at the black community today and not see how the Democrats have failed them. But go to the average black voter and ask them if they know that Democrat Harry Reid said he was glad Obama “had no negro’ accent and was thankfully “lightskinned”and they will not know. Ask them if they know Bill Clinton told Ted Kennedy that Obama “would have been bringing us coffee a few years ago,” and they will not know. But they will know every false narrative the Democrats have put out there about the “racist” GOP. Why do you think that is? It is the media.

Given that more and more women (and men) are delaying marriage for education and careers, having a problem with single women (and Obama won single men as well) is a big problem.

Your argument that the GOP has more of a youth problem than a woman problem may not be a more optimistic viewpoint. You have to bank on these young people changing their voting patterns in huge, huge numbers as they turn 30 and/or get married. Given the social issues important to these people and the culture in which they have matured, I’m not sure these folks are all of the sudden going to decide gay folks shouldn’t get married and that women do not have the right to choose when to have babies.

There are many reasonable people who would look at the Black community today and see how current policies certainly could be improved, but many reasonable people could also conclude that Republican policies would have been even worse.

The majority of the Black community are not “just trying to survive another day”. As you have stated, you have many Black friends, and I have a hunch they are not struggling simply to survive.

The days of Republican Jack Kemp are long gone. If there are knowledgeable, passionate, and even moderately correct Republicans actively working to benefit minority communities in the spirit of Kemp, you folks are doing a great job of keeping them a secret. Folks today would be screaming the Kemp is a RINO and trying to vote him out in a primary.

I would guarantee that there are as many Democrat voters who know what Harry Reid said and what Clinton said as there are Republicans. These were not kept secret by the evil media. If you had a TV during that campaign, you heard about these comments. Is it possible that someone in the Black community would think, “Yep, Reid is an idiot and probably a racist, but at least his voting pattern is more in line with my thinking”, so they still support Democrats?

“They are told over and over that it’s this or that, but no one ever goes into their community with the truth, which is it is the failed Democrat policies that have them in despair. It’s not about being stupid. It’s about just trying to survive another day and people they respect telling them that if they just vote this one way, it will be best for them.”

Yes they just need somebody to tell them what’s best for them. And why exactly can the black community not decide what’s best for them on their own?

I don’t think the point you’re trying to make here means anything. In this last election cycle republicans supported positions from “self deportation” and “show me your papers” anti-immigrant laws enacted in places like Arizona and Alabama to voter suppression laws in swing states which were happily thrown out by several courts.

It was crystal clear to Black and Latino voters which party governs in thier own self interests and they voted for democrats by vast majorities.

Even a tea partier should be able to see that it’s one thing to get republicans to vote for minority candidates, but another thing altogether to get minorities to vote for republicans.